Social attitudes marking the linguistic behavior of French Canadians living in New England during the last century are examined, including language values and stigmas, ethnocentrism, and adoption of or resistance to American attitudes. Three groups are considered: the "Little Canadas'" founders, their descendents of 50-70 years, and…

The study examined the effects of age and language dominance of the recall of 72 bilingual children, ranging from preschool to second grade, in 2 semantically different modes of presentation. (Author/NQ)

Maintains that because the field of English for specific purposes deals with the language of science, technology, and business, it is in a pivotal position regarding the use or abuse of linguistic power. (Author/VWL)

The present investigation examined the functioning of inhibitory mechanisms in younger and older bilinguals using a bilingual version of the Stroop test. The study predicted different patterns of age related decline in inhibitory mechanisms (inter- and intralingual interference) in bilinguals depending on their level of proficiency. Consistent…

Bullock and Gerfen show that two of the last speakers of French in Frenchville, Pennsylvania, systematically replace the French front mid round vowel (in words like "deux, neuf") with the rhoticized schwa of American English, their dominant language. As the authors argue, it is unlikely that this sound change would have arisen in the…

Two-year-old bilingual children can show sensitivity to the language choice of their interlocutor, but do not necessarily achieve perfect separation by discourse context, e.g. speaking only French with a French interlocutor; dominance in one language is often cited as a reason for this. In this study we asked whether older bilingual preschoolers…

Discusses the factors to consider when choosing which language or dialect to use in multilingual or multidialectal societies for literature and educational programs. Comprehension is the primary factor to consider but negative attitudes towards one's own language or a second language may hinder the acceptance of literature. (SED)

Analyzes bilingual lexemes and morphemes of English-origin loanwords from a Louisiana corpus of 22 French/English speakers. Data suggest that examining borrowing beyond the word level reveals a highly complex interplay of often competing and overlapping grammars. (Author/VWL)

Bilingual speech requires that the language of utterances be selected prior to articulation. Past research has debated whether the language of speaking can be determined in advance of speech planning and, if not, the level at which it is eventually selected. We argue that the reason that it has been difficult to come to an agreement about language…

Throughout the 20th century, international communication has shifted from a plural use of several languages to a clear pre-eminence of English, especially in the field of science. This paper focuses on international periodical publications where more than 75 percent of the articles in the social sciences and humanities and well over 90 percent in…

This essay attempts to answer some of the basic assumptions made about English as a global language. It is argued that such assumptions, especially those concerning political and economic power, are not sufficient in themselves to explain why English has acquired such global importance. Rather, what has greatly contributed to the possibility for…

This study explores Spanish language maintenance in Southbridge, Massachusetts, a suburban town with a vibrant Puerto Rican community. The investigation focuses on the extent to which Southbridge Puerto Ricans use Spanish and English at home, and their attitudes toward Spanish language maintenance. Survey data, especially the impact of factors…

Hebrew as a second language is not only taught to Israeli Palestinians, but also to adult immigrants and their young children. However, in the case of immigrants the purpose is to replace their immigrant language with Hebrew, while among Israeli Palestinians it is acknowledged as additive. Hebrew is a compulsory language for Israeli Palestinian…

In this article we explore some of the ways that language ideologies--shared beliefs about language forms and practices embedded in social conflicts over power--mediated the language choices of 4 girls in peer activities. These activities took place in the Spanish and English first-grade classrooms of a dual-language program that enrolled children…

Focusing on the distinction between inferential measures of language proficiency and tests which assess language skills more directly, the article discusses briefly various dimensions relevant to language proficiency testing and some of the special problems involved in the testing of equivalent proficiencies. (NQ)